Thursday, August 31, 2017

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said today (August 31, 2017) that the Pentagon will send additional troops to Afghanistan, where U.S.-backed security forces are stalemated in a war against the Taliban and other insurgent groups, according to the USA Today website.

Mattis did not specify how many additional troops would be going there, but the top coalition commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Nicholson, has said a few thousand more troops would be required to break the stalemate in America's longest war.

Currently, about 11,000 U.S. forces are in Afghanistan in addition to several thousand troops from coalition partner countries.

Mattis said he has begun signing deployment orders to dispatch the additional forces.

The Dutch Central Jewish Board said in a statement yesterday that the July 22 incident occurred at a rally advertised by a newly formed organization called the Palestinian Community in the Netherlands, or PGNL.

Participants in the rally, which was protesting the use of security measures by Israel around the Al-Aqsa mosque following a deadly terrorist attack there, shouted in Arabic, "Jews, remember Khaybar, the army of Muhammad is returning," the statement said.

The cry relates to an event in the seventh century when Muslims massacred and expelled Jews from the town of Khaybar, located in modern-day Saudi Arabia.

Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Turkey's foreign ministry said today the country protests 'in the harshest way" a U.S. court decision to indict 19 people, including 15 Turkish security officials, according to the VOA (Voice of America) News website.

The statement published late today follows yesterday's grand jury decision in Washington to charge the defendants with severely attacking peaceful demonstrators during a visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on May 16.

Turkey claims that security outside the ambassador's home was negligent and didn't ensure the safety of Erdogan's entourage amid sympathizers of an outlawed Kurdish militant group, according to the statement.

U.S. law enforcement officials were able to track down a young man from Queens, NY after he tried to enter Syria to join the Islamic State (IS) militant group, the Clarion Project website reports today (August 30, 2017).

Anti-terror experts had been following Parveg Ahmed, a 22-year-old Muslim native of Bangladesh.

Ahmed traveled to Jordan with an informant where he was arrested before he could enter Syria.

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

A council that forced a Christian girl in London to live with Muslim foster parents is facing fury and will be forced to explain its decision to the children's commissioner, the Christian Today website reports today (August 29, 2017).

Members of Parliament have been urged to launch an inquiry into the incident after it was revealed the girl, aged five, was forced to remove a crucifix necklace.

Anne Longfield, the children's commissioner for England, said she would be in contact with the council to demand the facts.

She added, "A child's religious, racial, and cultural background should be taken into consideration when they are placed with foster carers."

U.S. President Donald Trump asserted today (August 29, 2017) that "all options are on the table" in responding to the government of Kim Jong Un after North Korea launched a missile over Japan in an "outrageous" act, according to the Christian Post website.

"The world has received North Korea's latest message loud and clear: this regime has signaled its contempt to its neighbors, for all members of the United Nations, and for minimum standards of acceptable international behavior," Trump said.

He also asserted, "All options [against North Korea] are on the table."

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called the North Korean missile launch an "unprecedented and grave threat' to his nation.

Sunday, August 27, 2017

The chief of the Swiss Guards -- the force that protects the Vatican -- said it's only "a matter of time" before an attack that is inspired or directed by the IS (Islamic State) militant group against the home of the Catholic Church, the Newsweek website reports today (August 27, 2017).

Commander Christopher Graf said that the security force for Pope Francis is prepared for any IS terrorist act.

"Perhaps it is only a matter of time before an attack like that happens in Rome. But we are ready also for this," he added.

Created in the 16th century, the force is one of the oldest armies in the world and consists solely of young Swiss men.

Saturday, August 26, 2017

Police in London said today (August 26, 2017) that a man was arrested after driving at police outside Queen Elizabeth II's Buckingham Palace residence with a four-foot sword in his car, according to the Times of Israel website.

Upon being challenged by officers, the 26-year-old attacker "reached for what we now know to be a four-foot sword which was in the front passenger foot well," the police statement said.

The man, who repeatedly shouted Allahu akbar (God is greatest) was incapacitated with CS spray. The Islamic radical was arrested under the Terrorism Act.

Three unarmed officers were injured while detaining the man, two of them requiring hospital treatment.

A suicide bomber and a group of gunmen attacked a mosque in Kabul today (August 25, 2017) as worshippers gathered to pray, killing at least two people and injuring several more, according to the UPI website.

Thursday, August 24, 2017

Serbia withdrew its diplomats from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) this week, the Euro News website reports today (August 24, 2017).

The withdrawal is believed to be due to FYROM's efforts to help Kosovo become a member of UNESCO (United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization).

Serbia does not recognize the independence of Kosovo -- which seceded as a province of Serbia and declared itself an independent nation in 2008 -- and opposes all attempts of Kosovo to join international organizations as a sovereign country.

Serbia is primarily a Greek Orthodox Christian nation, while Islam is the main religion of Kosovo.

In the wake of the recent white nationalist rallies in Charlottesville, Virginia, the U.S. bishops have announced that they are establishing a new Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism, the National Catholic Register website reports today (August 24, 2017).

"Recent events have exposed the extent to which the sin of racism continues to inflict our nation," said Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the U.S. bishops' conference, yesterday.

He added, "Marches by hate groups such as KKK and Neo-Nazis are outrageous to the sensible mind and directly challenge the dignity of human life."

Jesuit Bishop George Murry of Youngstown, Ohio will chair the new committee, which will focus on galvanizing the Church and society to fight the evil of racism and minister to its victims. It will also focus on engaging racism within the Church.

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

A nursery school in Belgium has noticed signs of radicalization in their students, the Clarion Project website reports today (August 23, 2017).

An internal audit conducted at the school in Flanders reported their Muslim nursery school children were making "death threats" against non-Muslim children, treating the non-Muslims as "pigs," and making gestures to the non-Muslim children that described slitting their throats.

The Muslim nursery school children were also observed reciting verses of the Koran during playtime and refusing to hold hands with non-Muslim children.

Moreover, the Muslim children did not attend school on Fridays for religious reasons.

Guards at the entrance to the Western Wall complex in Jerusalem "strip searched" four female rabbinical students today (August 23, 2017) ahead of the Women of the Wall's monthly prayer service at the holy site, according to the Times of Israel website.

The Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC), which serves as the legal arm of the Reform Movement in Israel, said the four students of Hebrew Union College were delayed and questioned by guards, then were asked to lift up their shirts and skirts.

The director of the IRAC said the searches were "a new low" for the Western Wall rabbinate, which is strongly opposed to the Women of the Wall.

"This is a new low for the Rabbi of the Kotel trying to intimidate, humiliate, and exclude liberal women trying to pray at the Western Wall..." Rabbi Noa Sattath said in a statement.

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Forty years ago, William Aitcheson was a University of Maryland student and Ku Klux Klan member who burned a cross in the front yard of a black newlywed couple's home, the Washington Post website reports today (August 22, 2017).

He was sentenced to jail time and ordered to pay about $20,000 to the family. Then he found God.

Aitcheson attended a seminary in Rome, became a reverend, and was ordained as a Catholic priest. He returned to the East Coast and served in several Virginia churches, including his most recent post at St. Leo the Great in Fairfax City, where he has been for four years.

Seeing images from the recent deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville spurred Aitcheson to make a confession of his own. He said he's temporarily stepping down from his post.

India's Supreme Court ruled today (August 22, 2017) a Muslim instant divorce law unconstitutional, a victory for Muslim women who have argued for decades that it violates their right of equality, according to the Reuters website.

The law allowed Muslim men to divorce their wives by uttering the word "talaq" ("divorce") three times.

The court said the government should frame new divorce legislation to replace the triple talaq practice.

"Finally, I feel free today," said Shayara Bano, who was divorced through triple talaq and was one of five women who initiated the case.

Sunday, August 20, 2017

The chief rabbi in Barcelona, Spain has urged Jews to move to Israel because Europe has been "lost" to radical Islam, and Spain has been a "hub of Islamist terror for all of Europe" for years, the Newsmax website reports today (August 20, 2017).

"I tell my congregants, 'Don't think we're here for good,' and I encourage them to buy property in Israel," Chief Rabbi Meir Bar-Hen said on August 18, a day after an Islamist terror attack struck Barcelona.

"This place is lost," he said. "Don't repeat the mistake of Algerian Jews, of Venezuelan Jews."

Fourteen people died and some 130 were injured in a terror attack when a van plowed into a Barcelona tourist area on August 17.

Saturday, August 19, 2017

Finnish police today (August 19, 2017) said a stabbing spree in Finland yesterday was a terrorist attack, and have identified the suspect as an 18-year-old Moroccan Muslim citizen, according to the Times of Israel website.

"The act had been investigated as a murder, but during the night we received additional information which indicates that the criminal offenses are now terrorist killings," police said in a statement.

The suspect was an asylum seeker who targeted women in his attack, police said.

Two women were killed in yesterday's attack, and eight other people were injured. Among the eight were six women and two men, police added.

Israeli satellite imaging reveals that Iran has been building a factory in Syria that can be used to produce and store long-range missiles capable of striking Israel, the Times of Israel website reports today (August 16, 2017).

Satellite images of the site in northern Syria show a Scud Missile factory being built near the city of Baniyas, south of Latakia, in an area seen as a bastion of support for the embattled Assad regime.

Intelligence data indicates that construction on the site began in 2016 and is expected to be finished by the end of 2017.

Iran is also building subterranean weapons factories for the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon.

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

A pane of glass was shattered last night at the New England Holocaust Memorial -- the second time in less than two months the Boston memorial was vandalized -- the JTA (Jewish Telegraphic Agency) website reports today (August 15, 2017).

A 17-year-old male suspected of the vandalism is in custody, a spokesman for the Boston Police Department said.

In a post on Twitter, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said, "I'm saddened to see such despicable action in this great city."

The same memorial was also damaged just six weeks ago in a previous anti-Semitic hate crime.

Sunday, August 13, 2017

The Greek Orthodox patriarch in the Holy Land announced yesterday that the Greek Orthodox Church will appeal an Israeli court decision that approved the sale of prime church property to companies representing Jews seeking to expand their presence in Jerusalem's Old City, the Times of Israel website reports today (August 13, 2017).

The Jerusalem District Court upheld the deal two weeks ago.

Patriarch Theophilos III claimed yesterday that the lower court ruling was "politically motivated" and said the church would appeal to Israel's Supreme Court.

The Greek Orthodox Church is one of the largest property owners in the Holy Land, including a large amount of land in Jerusalem's Old City.

Saturday, August 12, 2017

The U.S. has asked Iraq's Kurds to postpone a referendum on the independence of their autonomous Kurdish region -- planned for September 25 -- the VOA News website reports today (August 12, 2017).

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made the request today, during a phone call to the president of Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government, Massoud Barzani.

The U.S. State Department is concerned that the referendum will distract from "more urgent priorities" such as the defeat of the Islamic State (IS) militants. Kurdish fighters are playing a significant role -- backed by U.S. military advisers and equipment -- in helping to defeat the IS in Iraq and Syria.

Turkey, Iran, Syria, and Iraq -- which have large Kurdish populations -- are all opposed to the establishment of an independent Kurdish state.

Thursday, August 10, 2017

Rev. Robert Jeffress -- one of the president's key Christian advisers -- asserted God has given President Trump the "authority to take out [North Korean tyrant] Kim Jong-Un," the Religion News website reports today (August 10, 2017).

Jeffress' statement follows Trump's deadly warning this week that North Korea would "be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen," if it continues to threaten the U.S.

The Texas preacher -- who leads a congregation of more than 10,000 people at First Baptist Church in Dallas -- is a strong Trump supporter.

Jeffress explained that the Bible makes it clear that "God has endowed rulers full power to use whatever means necessary -- including war -- to stop evil."

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

A French memorial to young victims of the Holocaust has been vandalized, the JTA (Jewish Telegraphic Agency) website reports today (August 9, 2017).

The memorial -- a plaque in Lyon bearing the names of 44 children and seven adults who were deported in 1944 from the children's home of Izieu -- was knocked off its base in a public garden and smashed.

Most of the children were killed in Auschwitz.

Jean Levy, head of a charity committed to preserving the memory of the deported children, said "We are horrified but we won't give up. We'll rebuild it."

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

A captured Islamic State (IS) fighter has revealed that the terrorist group is training fighters to carry out attacks in the United Kingdom (UK) and other western countries, the Christian Headlines website reports today (August 8, 2017).

The IS fighter was captured by Kurdish forces in Syria and revealed that the jihadists have attacks planned in Europe.

The jihadis-in-training are being put through a rigorous program which prepares them to carry out suicide bombings in the UK.

North Korea denounced the United Nations' latest sanctions imposed on it, saying they infringe on its sovereignty, and vowed to take "righteous action" -- including a "thousand-fold revenge" against the United States -- the Reuters website reports today (August 7, 2017).

The government statement reiterated Pyongyang's stance that it will never place its nuclear program on the negotiating table as long as the U.S. maintains a hostile policy against the North.

It did not specify what action it will take, but said it will continue to test long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

"There is no bigger mistake than the United States believing that its land is safe across the [Pacific] ocean," the statement emphasized.

Sunday, August 6, 2017

An improvised explosive device (IED) was hurled through a window into the office of the imam at a mosque near Minneapolis, Minnesota early yesterday morning, the Jewish Press website reports today (August 6, 2017).

Some 15 to 20 people were inside the mosque when the bomb exploded, but were not injured by the blast, which occurred at around 5 a.m. at the Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington, Minnesota.

The FBI is leading the investigation into the attack.

In a statement condemning the attack, Minn. Governor Mark Dayton said, "Every place of worship, for all Minnesotans of every faith and culture, must be sacred and safe."

Friday, August 4, 2017

Israeli police confirmed today ( August 4, 2017) that Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is being investigated for "fraud, breach of trust, and bribes," according to The Daily Beast website.

Netanyahu's former chief of staff, Ari Harow, reached a deal with prosecutors today to become a state's witness in the corruption case against Netanyahu, thus preventing himself to be found guilty of any charges in the case.

Netanyahu denies any wrongdoing and calls the investigation a "witch-hunt."

His wife, Sara, also was interviewed by police this week in a separate investigation.

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said President Donald Trump told him that if North Korea continues its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests there will be a war "to destroy North Korea's program and North Korea itself, the Breitbart website reports today (August 2, 2017).

Graham said, "President Trump has said I will not allow them to get an ICBM with a nuclear weapon on top to hit America. They are headed that way..."

Graham continued, "He [President Trump] is not going to allow the ability of this madman [Kim Jong Un] to have a missile to hit America."

"If there's going to be a war to stop him, it will be over there. If thousands die, they're going to die over there. They're not going to die here..."

The New York Times has obtained an internal announcement circulated within DOJ's civil rights division, a department unit which enforces anti-discrimination laws.

The report claims that the purpose of the DOJ effort is to identify and litigate against policies which disadvantage white college applicants.

Several U.S. colleges and universities discriminate against white students -- a policy often called "discrimination in reverse" -- by denying whites admission while accepting black students and other minorities who are less qualified in their grades and other admission criteria.

About Me

I am of the Eastern Orthodox faith and a member of the Holy Trinity Hellenic Orthodox Church in Lowell, MA. I am married and the father of two grown married daughters with children, all belonging to the Greek Orthodox Church.

I received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, with a concentration in International Affairs, and a Master of Education degree from Northeastern University.

I worked as an education specialist for the federal government for two decades before retiring.

Blog Goal
The primary goal of the Theology and Society blog is to provide its readers with a brief informative description of contemporary theological issues and events, and the impact they may have on society.